Texas v. Soileau (In Re Soileau)

WIENER, Circuit Judge:

The State of Texas (“the State”) appeals the decisions of the bankruptcy and district courts denying the State’s motion to dismiss the petition of Geraldine Soileau (“Soileau”) for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. The State’s challenge is grounded exclusively in Eleventh Amendment sovereign immunity, and the bankruptcy court and district court ruled on that ground alone. As the Supreme Court’s decisions in Central Virginia Community College v. Katz1 and Tennessee Student Assistance Corp. v. Hood2 establish that the discharge of a debt like Soileau’s is not barred by such…